-This book contains the annotated translation of an account of Spain's Armada of the Strait, which traveled to Brazil and the Strait of Magellan under Don Diego Flores de Valdaes in 1581-84. Pedro de Rada, the official scribe of the armada, kept a detailed, neutral chronicle of the venture which remained in private hands until 1999 but is now held in the Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California. It is published here for the first time. The voyage came at a crucial juncture in global politics, when Philip II of Spain had claimed the throne of Portugal and its empire, and Francis Drake's daring peacetime raids had challenged the dominance of Spain and Portugal in the Americas.---Provided by publisher.